The director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Beth Givens, went head to head in last Sunday's San Diego Union-Tribune with Michael Robertson, a San Diego-based high-tech entrepreneur who founded MP3.com and Gizmo5 among other ventures. The topic was online privacy. Givens and Robertson each contributed op-ed pieces to the Dialog section of the Union-Tribune.

In Washington D.C. on Tuesday, October 11, privacy and civil liberties experts will convene to discuss how the digital collection of personal information harms consumers and citizens. Every day, companies amass information about consumers via online tracking, digital devices, and public records. These practices are largely unregulated, but have serious consequences for consumers and society.

We are excited to announce that our video highlighting jobseeker rights and background checks is ready to view and share!

Watch the video to find out what’s keeping Taylor Thomas from getting hired. Learn your rights about employment background checks, and spread the word! Although Taylor is a fictional character, the situation dramatized on the six-minute video is similar to many complaints we have received from individuals who have contacted our hotline with questions and complaints about background check errors.

As the nation celebrates the achievements of American workers this Labor Day weekend, it’s hard to ignore the 13.9 million people who remain unemployed. Millions of Americans are searching for work, and have been for months. The weak job market means employers are being flooded with candidates.

To weed out candidates, employers often turn to background checks. In a poll conducted by The Society for Human Resource Management, 73% of employersreported conducting criminal background checks on all job candidates. There are many companies specializing in employment screening and each uses its own method to gather background data. Unfortunately, many consumers have contacted us to report that they were the subject of a background check containing inaccurate data. It’s important for job seekers to be aware of their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a law that regulates the consumer reporting industry.

Imagine you’re walking down the street and a stranger snaps your photo with his smartphone. He uses a facial recognition app and within minutes, he knows your name, age, where you were born, and your Social Security number. Think it’s a scene from the movie Minority Report? Think again.

Facial recognition technology – especially as the technology becomes more sophisticated – may be one of the gravest privacy threats of our time.

[California-specific] A new 60-second radio ad airing in southern California is using fear tactics in an attempt to stop voters from signing ballot measure petitions. The ad purports that giving your name and address to petition campaigners amounts to an “identity theft starter kit.”

“The threat claimed in these ads is totally false. Social Security numbers are the keys to identity theft. And obviously those are not collected by petition gatherers,” states Beth Givens, director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Have you been hearing the term “data breach” in the news a lot recently? That’s because there has been a string of sensational breaches from corporate giants like Sony, Epsilon, Citigroup, and Lockheed Martin. A data breach is when a company inadvertently leaks your personal information as a result of a hack attack, lost or stolen computers, fraud, insider theft, and more. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse explains how to
follow the breaches, why consumers should be concerned and what to do if a data
breach happens to you.

For thousands of families across America, summer vacation is right around the corner. And thieves know it. According to the FBI, crime rates rise about 10% during summer months. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse urges you to stay safe by following these six privacy tips.

Great Hall, International House
University of California San Diego
Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 7 PM

Join the ACLU of San Diego, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation for an informal panel discussion about
how technology is changing our relationship to privacy and what you can
do to safeguard your civil liberties in the digital world.

Today is Tax Day, the last day to file your federal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You’ve spent the last several weeks collecting sensitive financial documents and now you’re probably wondering what to do with them. Financial documents may contain information, such as your Social Security number, that you should keep private in order to prevent identity theft. Therefore, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has compiled a guide on document retention and destruction tips to help protect your privacy.